How do your kids wake up?

My girls are good sleepers, and if allowed to wake up on their own, will generally be cheerful little people. If we wake them up, however, they're absolute messes. I woke them up from a marathon nap on Saturday (they slept from noon to 3 when I opened the door and startled them awake), and they both dissolved into hysterial screaming hiccuping crying lumps. It took almost 15 minutes for them to get over the crying and whining and start to play normally. Other times that we've woken them up from nap, they are grumpy and whiny and miserable the rest of the afternoon. I know they might be grumpy because they need more sleep, but it doesn't seem to be just that. It seems like they can't transition from sleep to waking unless it's on their schedules. They almost appear scared if we wake them up. Piper even shakes a little and stares wide eyed at us for a minute or so before she dissolves into a crying fit.

I've never heard of this before and wonder if my kids are the only ones who can't deal with being woken up?

Any suggestions on how to teach them that waking up is a normal part of life and they can be tired, but don't need to freak out?

 

I have to make sure the girls are up before 6:30 each morning so that I can get to work on time. If Lauren wakes on her own, she is great, if I have to get her up she is awful!! Mattie is pretty easy going either way. So no, your kids aren't the only ones like that. :hug:

 

Mine do the same thing when I wake them up from a nap. I try to do it as gently as possible (opening the shades, make a little noise in another room, etc), but there is usually a period of time when they are crying, grumpy or both. The worst is when they fall asleep in the car on the way somewhere. Ug.

 

Mine are the same way. If I have to wake them up, I do it as gently as possible and try not to have to physically wake them. I'll go in and open the blinds, turn off the box fan and leave their door open. If I don't have to physically wake them up, then they are a lot less grumpy.

 

My girls normally do not like to be woken up at all. It takes them a good half hour or more to not be hateful.

 

Mine vary every day. Some mornings they wake up happy as can be and other mornings it is nothing but crying fits till we get out of the door. If they went to bed at 8 pm and fall asleep right away, typically we get the happy morning kids. Unfortunately, my son doesn't always fall asleep right away and then it is a problem.

 

Mine also vary. Most of the time if I have to wake up DS, he is usually in a good mood but somedays he can totally grumpy about it. My DD, it really depends she is usually slow to wake up and is neither happy or sad when she wakes up, just looks annoyed and then usually can cheer up afterwards.

 

Royce is a good waker all of the time. Alice is a bad one all of the time. She is angry, screaming, pouts, cries regardless if I wake her up or if she wakes up on her own.

hmmmmm. . .I wonder where she gets that from. It takes me at least 30 minutes to not be hateful in the morning.

 

Ainsley used to be an AWFUL waker-upper! She would scream, cry, and carry on for an hour sometimes. It didn't really matter if she was woken up or woke on her own. I am so glad she grew out of that, it made for some pretty horrible mornings. However, if she falls asleep in the car (the only time she naps) she will still have a freaking fit when we get home and she has to come in the house. :wacko: It's a nightmare.

 

I hate when they fall asleep like 20 minutes from home. You know they haven't slept enough and they're just going to be mad that you woke them!!!!! I feel you on this.

Like most of the pps...if they wake on their own, we're good...if I have to wake them, it's bad for about 30 minutes.

 

Mine are somewhat like that too. They initially seem OK, and we start to think we got away with it, only to have them melt down about 10 minutes later. It takes at least half an hour of coddling to enable them to face life again. That's one of the reasons I'm glad they no longer nap.

Sarah is still not a picnic in the mornings, but it's better now that we let her take her own sweet time. Given her choice, she would sleep till 8, but Amy usually wakes her up around 7. Then Amy bounds out of bed and Sarah lies there rubbing her eyes for another 20 minutes before joining us, grumpily, at the breakfast table.

 

Kevan is generally okay, and wakes up cheerful even if I've gotten him up from a dead sleep. Karina, not so much. She whines some in the morning, but is mostly okay after she's had her smoothie.

But waking up from nap, yikes. I usually go in, turn off her white noise, turn on the light very dim, and gently shake her awake. Then I leave the room, and tell her to come down when she's ready. Usually she'll hear Kevan playing downstairs and will want to join the fun, but it's often not until 30 to 45 minutes later. She'll just stay and hang out in the bed.

 

Mine wake up happy in the morning and are content to chill in their beds for 15 minutes or so before they start whining. They almost always wake up in a terrible mood after their naps though. We never wake them, so they're always able to spontaneously wake on their own. And they're usually little monsters for about 30 minutes. Crying, rolling on the floor, etc. I've learned to get them a snack, drink, put a video on and then IGNORE them for a good 30 minutes. Nothing I do will make them happy during this time so I've stopped trying.

 

Mine are the same way. They wake happily and chat for awhile in the morning and after naps. But, wake them up and they are hysterical and miserable. I must admit, I'm no fan of being woken up, so I can't exactly blame them. :laughing:

 

Mine always wake up fine in the morning and usually fine after a nap, sometimes grumpy and if we wake them up usually a bit grumpy. They did go through a phase where they were terrible waking from a nap. they would be crying and totally unconsolable and would not even want to be held so I would have to just let them lay there on the floor until they snapped out of it and sometimes it would take 20 mins and then they would be fine. They seemed to grow out of that phase thankfully!

 

This gives me hope as our "little monster" nap wakeups have been going on for about 2 weeks now. Please let it be a short phase!

 

I think this phenomenon is related alot of times to blood sugar levels. When mine wake up really grouchy, I find that giving them a small dose of carbs (raisins, juice, apple, goldfish, etc.) will resolve it within minutes.

I am the exact same way. When I wake up from a nap I always feel lethargic and snappy until I get some sort of carbohydrate. It doesnt have to be a large amount.

I think its just a sign of a good metabolism, which most toddlers definitely have.

Try a snack and report back...